


Three Dragons and A Fae

by TentacleBubbles



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Camping, Dragons, Fairies, Fluff, Humans? no, Humour, Idiots in Love, M/M, Miscommunication, Mistaken Identity, Multi, Not Beta Read, Plants, Shapeshifting, cuddling for warmth, fae
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:00:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27783376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TentacleBubbles/pseuds/TentacleBubbles
Summary: Iwaizumi encountered three campers and lovely friends; Oikawa, Hanamaki and Matsukawa. They thought he was homeless, he thought he can have a little fun in their company, in a totally harmless way of course. But it turned out that not only were the three interested in something other than friendship, they weren’t even human to begin with! Iwaizumi is oddly very okay with this.ORThe fantasy romcom about three dragons and this homeless guy they found in the woods who turned out to be a fairy and then they all fall in love.
Relationships: Hanamaki Takahiro/Iwaizumi Hajime/Matsukawa Issei/Oikawa Tooru, Hanamaki Takahiro/Matsukawa Issei/Oikawa Tooru
Comments: 16
Kudos: 83





	Three Dragons and A Fae

**Author's Note:**

> For the 2020 HQ Polyam Bang! Many thanks to my artist partners, [gazebo](https://seijouthirdyears.tumblr.com/) and [jeeejae](https://twitter.com/jeeejaee)!

Iwaizumi didn’t usually end up in this part of the forest.  
  
The woods were quiet, in the way only woods were able to be. He can’t see it yet, but Iwaizumi can hear the sounds of gushing water, falling from someplace high up and dipping down into a pool. Everything seemed peaceful, nature padding along on its furred, flowered or mossy feet as the day rolled by with each bright ray of sunshine brushing past the canopy of leaves crowding the tops of trees.  
  
Iwaizumi walked over the soft, leafy ground towards the sound of the waterfall, on two feet for once, enjoying the feel of the earth beneath him. He found a bag of human things earlier, back closer to the road humans used, and it was always fun to play pretend.  
  
He got to the edge of the trees, just enough to get a view of the waterfall and its sizable pool. A small clearing surrounded the pool, grass here and there growing up to his ankles, baby blue flowers dotting the perimeter.  
  
Wildlife went about their business, unbothered by Iwaizumi’s arrival, undisturbed for quite some time. Across the clearing, Iwaizumi spied a dirt path disappearing into the woods further ahead, left alone long enough that it was mostly covered by dead leaves. Not uncharted territory for humans, then.  
  
After another careful glance around, Iwaizumi made his way towards the pool. It was quite deep in its own right, but it was pure enough that he could see a few water creatures swimming in it as clear as if they were swimming in the air. Undisturbed, just like the rest of the place.  
  
Satisfied, Iwaizumi dropped his bag and knelt down, readily scooping up water into his palms. He’d barely taken a few gulps of water when he heard a sound he wished he hadn’t. It was the unmistakable sound of human feet, stomping through the forest and disturbing the otherwise soft humming of nature. Several humans, all of them coming from the direction of the dirt path Iwaizumi had foolishly thought abandoned.  
  
Before he could scramble to his feet and hide they were upon him, three young men emerging from the woods, laughing at one thing or another, stopping when they saw Iwaizumi half crouched over the side of the pool. All three of them stared at Iwaizumi, who stared back with wide eyes.  
  
The one in front, probably the leader, was the first to react. He laughed, running a hand through his hair. It was light brown and fluffy, like maybe it was partly made from clouds. He was smiling, but his eyes were sharp. It reminded Iwaizumi of wolves.  
  
“I guess someone beat us to this place,” he said to his friends. He turned to look at Iwaizumi. “Sorry, were you going to camp here by yourself?”  
  
Iwaizumi didn’t speak, narrowing his eyes as he assessed them. He gave a shrug.  
  
The man exchanged a glance with his companions, before directing another too-sweet smile at Iwaizumi.  
  
“Do you mind sharing?” he asked.  
  
Iwaizumi snorted.  
  
Sure, his kind shared. But it was not the type of sharing that was fair, or even safe. Still, the humans seemed harmless enough if they’re willing to share with some random stranger they just met. Better them than other things.  
  
Iwaizumi shrugged again, going back to drinking from the pool. From the corner of his eye, he watched the three humans exchange looks and shrugs. They stepped into the clearing casually, giving Iwaizumi friendly smiles when he stopped drinking to watch them openly.  
  
“We uh, usually go here for our weekend camping trips,” the leader said. “I’m Oikawa. This is Makki and Mattsun.”  
  
“Wow, not even our whole last names,” one of his companions said dryly. He had dark hair and broad shoulders, with a heavy lidded gaze. He smiled lazily at Iwaizumi as he set down his backpack. “I’m Matsukawa.”  
  
“Hanamaki,” their third member said, his own smile impish and eyes as bright as his hair.  
Iwaizumi tilted his head.  
  
“Iwa,” he decided to say, leaning back and getting comfortable on the grass. The three humans began setting up their tent and things as they spoke.  
  
“Is that a nickname?” Oikawa asked.  
  
Iwaizumi hummed, neither confirming nor denying. The three friends exchanged looks again but let it be, moving on to a different topic. They were setting up a large tent a ways away from the water, no doubt a comfortable fit for three people.  
  
“Is this your first time camping here, Iwa-chan?” Oikawa asked, earning a snort and a snicker from Matsukawa and Hanamaki respectively. Iwaizumi bit back a grin himself, amused at the nickname. He ended up looking all baffled, he was sure.  
  
“Yeah,” Iwaizumi managed. Oikawa beamed at him.  
  
“Well then, I hope you enjoy it,” he said. “It’s a great spot, and I think we wouldn’t mind seeing you around more. Would we?”  
  
He turned to look at the other two, who were looking just as amused as Iwaizumi felt.  
  
Almost as if they rehearsed it, Matsukawa and Hanamaki grinned cheekily at the same time.  
  
“Makki, it seems his highness has gotten tired of us,” Matsukawa said.  
  
“Can you blame him?” Hanamaki answered without skipping a beat. “Finally, he’s found someone who hasn’t experienced his wonderful presence yet.”  
  
Oikawa squawked in protest, tugging on one side of the tent and nearly making it collapse.  
  
“Oi, don’t waste our hard work,” Hanamaki complained. Oikawa snuck his tongue out at him.  
  
“Whatever, you can finish up here,” Oikawa dropped his side of the tent, making the entirety of it sag. He turned towards Iwaizumi, who was still trying to figure out if he’d met a ‘royal’ human this whole time. They took that sort of thing seriously, didn’t they?  
  
“Iwa-chan! Come collect firewood with me,” Oikawa said, approaching Iwaizumi and holding out a hand to help him up.  
  
Iwaizumi twitched, a flash of annoyance at the gesture. But he didn’t want to give up the ruse so soon, and royals have always been braver than other humans. He raised a brow at Oikawa instead, before glancing at Hanamaki and Matsukawa in question. However, when their gazes met, the two of them just waved him off.  
  
“His highness gets antsy,” Hanamaki explained. “Plus we’re almost done here.”  
  
“Make sure to get the good wood,” Matsukawa added.  
  
Iwaizumi relented, hauling himself up without help. He nodded at the other two and followed Oikawa back into the woods, feeling a sense of irony. For a while, Oikawa did most of the chatter while picking up branches and sticks that they could find. Iwaizumi was delegated to wood carrier and patient listener.  
  
Oikawa was an obvious charmer. He moved as if any attention on him was natural, even expected. He talked with a confident flourish, smiled and performed for both visible and invisible audiences. He was also quite attractive. Iwaizumi was becoming more and more convinced that he was actually royalty, if not for the way the other two treated him and the things he talked about.  
  
Iwaizumi observed him, listening to his words and stories with held back hunger. Beauty and knowledge was a particular weakness for any fae, after all. And here was Oikawa offering the latter out of nowhere, in exchange for what? Sharing camping grounds that weren't Iwaizumi’s in the first place? Have humans really grown so naive?   
  
Then again, just from half of what Oikawa’s saying, it sounded like humans have made a lot of changes in the last century or so. Maybe they had.  
  
They were following a half-circling route around their camping ground, and it was on the start of the second turn that Oikawa decided to ask a question.  
  
“Does Iwa-chan go camping a lot?” he asked. “Or perhaps hiking?”  
Iwaizumi hummed.  
  
“I like nature,” he said, feeling the earth beneath his feet and hearing the wind answer with a delighted breeze. He almost smiled, looking down. “Nature has always been home.”  
  
Oikawa became oddly quiet, for just a moment. Then he laughed, loud and a little too forced.  
  
“Right! That’s why we go camping so much,” he agreed with a bright, twitchy smile. “Do you live close to some forest then?”  
  
Iwaizumi schooled his expression into a slight frowning, watching Oikawa closely.  
  
“I live in the forest, yeah,” he said.  
  
“You have a house in the woods?”  
  
“No.”  
  
“Oh! Uhm.” Oikawa floundered, the flustered flush painting his cheeks like precious pink fruits. Iwaizumi enjoyed the view for a moment before letting himself break out into a grin.  
  
“I’m kidding,” he said, shrugging his armful of firewood. “I have a place. I’m not sure it counts as a house.” It wasn’t quite the right word for the spaces that made up the plane where he and his kind lived.  
  
Oikawa blinked, laughing awkwardly. They spent another long moment in silence.  
  
“I’m sorry if this is rude, Iwa-chan,” Oikawa said, eyes flickering with uncertainty. “But, uhm, where are your shoes?”  
  
“I don’t have any,” Iwaizumi deadpanned.  
  
Oikawa made an odd, funny face. Then he quickly changed the subject, talking about the city where he and his friends lived. They headed back to the waterfall once both of them had an armful of firewood, a good hour or so since they left. By then, Hanamaki and Matsukawa had finished setting up the tent and were beginning to arrange an area for the campfire with some stones.  
  
“Thanks!” Matsukawa said, taking the pile of wood from Iwaizumi with a smile and leaving him standing there in bafflement before he remembered he was tricking them. He shouldn’t be so surprised these unwary humans kept giving and accepting kindness and gifts like they were nothing.  
  
Just what exactly had him so flustered and out of sorts? He sat near the edge of their camp, directly on the earth so that he could feel the soil in his fingers and take comfort in the roots beneath him.   
  
This was fine. He’ll see how long before the humans notice, or if they went through the entire weekend without knowing. In the meantime, he can work on balancing their little debts like a mildly annoying puzzle.  
  
With that internal debate settled, Iwaizumi stood, hands clean and ready to help. Would finding food for them be enough or should he strengthen their tent? It looked awfully worn to him.  
  
\- - -  
  
It took a lot of inviting and an odd sort of deal to get Iwa-chan to sleep in the tent with them that night. Why did he insist to be in charge of the fire just so he can sleep in their now-cramped tent? It was just common courtesy!  
  
Oikawa had a very sad idea about why Iwaizumi insisted he was used to sleeping out on the dirt and he didn’t like it. That plus the lack of shoes, the single backpack of belongings, the place he lived in not being enough to be called a ‘house’?   
  
Iwa-chan was obviously homeless!  
  
How long had he been living in the woods? This particular plot of forest was large, he could’ve been here for years without running into them on their camping trips before. Of course, he wouldn’t be this hung up over the issue if it were just anybody. There was something about Iwa-chan, though… It was like he felt a connection, when he saw the stranger bent over the pool and water dripping from their hand.  
  
Something so foolish and human, feeling an ‘unknown connection.’ It was a novel experience for Oikawa, and surely his fellow dragons felt the same? Either way, they obviously liked Iwa-chan enough that they wouldn’t mind helping him out a bit. Their house was big enough for a human to join them.  
  
That decided, Oikawa resolved to find a moment with Matsukawa and Hanamaki to tell them about his very simple plan. Somewhere in between their camping activities and having Iwa-chan join them so he won’t feel out of place.  
  
Meal times were out of the question, as well as sleeping times. The little hikes they took in between perhaps? There was also that scavenger hunt they liked to do on Sundays, before they had to pack up and go back.  
  
This was harder than he thought.  
  
Oikawa had to bite back a sigh as he thought the problem over. It was Saturday morning now, so they didn’t have much time to begin with. Matsukawa was in charge of breakfast, helped by Iwa-chan upon his insistence. Hanamaki was still sleeping in the tent, and Oikawa was sitting on a log just outside of it so he had a good view of  
  
Matsukawa and Iwa-chan preparing breakfast.  
  
“You’re… mixing them all up.”  
  
“Well yeah,” Matsukawa picked up another potato to peel. “Some people don’t think they go together but you just have to cook them right. Here, I’ll show you.”  
  
Iwa-chan looked constipated at the thought, even a little pink around the edges. But he nodded and watched carefully as Matsukawa showed him the steps to their breakfast soup. Oikawa had to suppress a smile at the scene.  
  
Really, had Matsukawa forgotten that not many humans could stomach mushrooms in so much of their food? They were fine because a) they loved each other enough to put up with weird food cravings and b) they had dragon stomachs, which can even stomach most metals, gems and of course gold.  
  
Iwa-chan was neither of those, as far as Oikawa knew, but he hopefully won’t get sick from it. It’d be too bad, he was paying such close attention that it was cute!  
  
“Mh? Mushrooms for breakfast?”  
  
Oikawa turned his head to find Hanamaki crawling out of the tent. He had a bit of drool dried on his cheek, still blinking sleep from his eyes.  
  
“It is Mattsun’s turn with breakfast,” Oikawa reminded him, tossing a towel at his face. “You got drool on you.”  
  
Hanamaki blinked harder, catching the towel as it fell from his face. His eyes were already bright and alert.  
  
“None of us drool, though,” he said, voice muffled as he wiped his face. He crawled completely out of the tent, standing up to stretch. Matsukawa waved at him but barely paused in talking to Iwa-chan. The latter just nodded towards Hanamaki briefly.  
  
“Iwa-chan does,” Oikawa whispered towards Hanamaki, grinning. “It was adorable.”  
  
“You shut up, Oikawa!” Iwa-chan shouted suddenly, surprising everyone else. Oikawa even thought he might’ve jumped, something he’ll never admit. How the hell did Iwa-chan hear him from over there?  
  
Iwa-chan bristled at his shocked face, then bristled further when Matsukawa snorted beside him. He reddened, mumbling a sorry for interrupting their cooking lesson.  
  
“It’s all right,” Matsukawa assured him, giving him one of his rare, indulgently genuine smiles.  
  
Oikawa pouted.  
  
That sneaky lizard! Had he already caught wind of Oikawa’s plan? Darn it, that’s what they get for living together for over a century.  
  
Hanamaki sat beside him, all nice and refreshed, water still dripping from his hair. What a drama queen.  
  
“So what’s on the agenda today, your highness?” Hanamaki asked, smirking in the way that says he knew exactly what Oikawa was thinking. Oikawa stuck his tongue out at him to say that he knew what he was thinking. Though…  
  
“Swimming,” Oikawa said after a moment. “It’s a good day for some swimming.”  
  
“Pulling out all the stops, huh?” Hanamaki said, still smirking knowingly.  
  
Oikawa stuck his nose up in the air.  
  
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”  
  
\- - -  
  
“Do you like to swim, Iwa-chan?”  
  
The nickname tickled, in a way exclusive to fae, and Iwaizumi had to take a second to register the question that came before it. The nickname wasn’t the only thing distracting him, either.  
  
At the moment, all three of his human companions were busy taking off their shirts and shoes and leaving only their shorts. Iwaizumi was very good at pretending it didn’t bother him, they were all ‘men’ here. And he still hasn’t finished the peculiar breakfast Matsukawa had made, in any case. The knowledge of the recipe sat in his stomach more delicious than the food itself, and because he still hadn’t found a way to repay the favor equally, he tried not to ogle too much.  
  
As said before, Iwaizumi was very good at pretending.  
  
Not that the three of them were making it very easy for him.  
  
“Iwa-chan? You okay there?”  
  
Iwaizumi blinked, brought back out of his concentration. Matsukawa was looking at him with his brows slightly furrowed.  
  
“Were the mushrooms too much?” he asked. He was shirtless, with a physique reminiscent of those knights Iwaizumi used to spy on in the past, when they got lost in his woods. Some of those knights caught enough fae fancy to have never gotten out, from looks alone.  
  
Iwaizumi swallowed, shook his head.  
  
“No, they’re good,” he said. “You asked something?”  
  
“That was me.” Hanamaki appeared beside him, also shirtless. Much leaner than Matsukawa, but skin smooth and dappled in sun-kissed freckles. He smiled as if he noticed Iwaizumi’s eyes lingering. “I asked if you like swimming.”  
  
“Yeah,” Iwaizumi agreed before he could really think about it. Didn’t humans say water was refreshing? His human body was definitely starting to feel grimy, perhaps it was time to wash it. He hurried to finish his meal, conscious of the two still crowding him.  
  
“Don’t keep Iwa-chan to yourselves, you brutes,” Oikawa interrupted their staring, nudging Matsukawa and Hanamaki towards the water. Just like them, he was shirtless, showing off an equally impressive figure.  
  
The gifts were teetering too far in the humans’ favor for Iwaizumi’s taste.  
  
“I’ll join you,” he said, setting his empty plate aside. He stood and stretched like he saw the humans did, letting his shirt ride up his torso. Then, casual as can be, he took off his shirt and tossed it aside. Iwaizumi pretended not to see their eyes track his movements as he made his way to the pool.  
  
This particular waterfall only had a handful of smaller water spirits living in it, and they welcomed Iwaizumi cautiously, as tiny ones usually did with fae. He assured them he wasn’t here to cause much harm, and not to them in any case. The water spirits responded in kind by helping him scrub off the dirt that had been clinging to his physical form.  
  
The three humans joined him a moment later, and the water hummed with something akin to familiarity.  
  
“The water really is the best,” Oikawa sighed, floating past Iwaizumi with a languid smile. “Isn’t it, Iwa-chan?”  
Iwaizumi hummed, more interested in the fact that the water spirits recognized the three of them. They swam about with the three humans, gentle and playful.  
  
“I think a fish almost swam into my shorts,” Hanamaki said, making a face but otherwise unbothered. Matsukawa and Oikawa made answering faces, and Iwaizumi huffed.  
  
“Does that happen often?” Iwaizumi asked, amused.  
  
“Only sometimes,” Oikawa admitted. “That or tadpoles or something.”  
  
“We never see them,” Hanamaki added, in a low, conspiratorial tone. “Even though the water’s usually clear.”  
  
“Yeah?” Iwaizumi raised a brow appropriately.  
  
“Ghost fish,” Hanamaki said sagely. Then Matsukawa splashed him.  
  
The four of them ended up playing around in the water for most of the morning. Iwaizumi couldn’t help but feel odd, watching the three humans play around with the water spirits without even knowing they were there.  
  
Just how dense were these humans! Or were they purposefully trying to trick him? Iwaizumi’s feelings fluctuated, ending up with a strong desire to figure them out.  
  
\- - -  
  
It was Hanamaki’s turn to cook lunch, and Iwa followed him to help. Oikawa and Matsukawa spent some more time in the water until lunch was ready, during which they decided to regale Iwa with stories of living together to the point that they were sure Iwaizumi got the hint.  
  
He did, didn’t he?  
  
It wasn’t exactly Matsukawa’s plan to bring home a random guy they found in the woods, but a) he can already sense Oikawa being dead-set on helping, b) Hanamaki’s about halfway there and c) Iwa is surprisingly, entertainingly charming. So while he wasn’t completely sold on the idea, Matsukawa chose to go along with it.  
  
Iwa didn’t seem like the type to refuse, either. All throughout the afternoon and into the evening, he listened to their stories with a nonchalant air, but everyone could tell he was paying all his attention to them. When Matsukawa was showing him how to cook breakfast that morning, Iwa had been so quietly focused. The same with Hanamaki for lunch and Oikawa for dinner. He never asked any direct questions, but he’d get a look on his face that Matsukawa had identified as ‘burning curiosity.’ Oikawa had a very similar face sometimes, though he was much louder about it.  
  
Hm, if Matsukawa remembered right… this was what the shows called a ‘tsundere’ wasn’t it? Humans continued to be so fascinating.  
  
“Hey, Iwa-chan,” he called, just to see the way Iwa very carefully pretended not to react to the nickname. It was a little harder to see with only the light of the campfire, but it was still quite clear to the dragon. Iwa gave Matsukawa a look - raised brows, eyes sharp and searching and ready for whatever they were gonna throw at him, except he never usually was.  
  
“Want to come live with us?”  
  
Oikawa choked on his food.  
  
\- - -  
  
“I can’t believe — no, wait, I actually can, because you always do this. It’s cute but why do you always do this, Mattsun? Why?”  
  
Matsukawa hummed, stroking his chin in thought.  
  
Oikawa narrowed his eyes at him.  
  
Matsukawa’s lips wobbled in an effort not to grin.  
  
“You think I’m cute?”  
  
Oikawa made a sound that was a mix of an aborted roar, a snort and an indignant shout. Sparks flew out of his mouth as he tried to form coherent words. In the end, he had to cover his mouth and settle for glaring, if he didn’t want to set the forest on fire by accident.  
  
Matsukawa patted him solidly on the back.  
  
“It’s okay, Tooru,” he said. “Iwa didn’t run away, and he said he’d think about it. He even made us breakfast this morning.”  
  
Oikawa huffed out a puff of smoke, pouting.  
  
That was true. Iwa had even brought out his own ingredients, from who knew where — it would’ve been impolite to ask. The dish he made for breakfast was both sweet and filling, with a fluffy and syrupy consistency. He showed them how he made it, explained each step patiently even with his gruff and none too gentle tone. It was so cute Oikawa could barely control himself.  
  
Hanamaki didn’t even bother, that rascal, calling dibs on having Iwa as his partner for their traditional scavenger hunt even before they could explain it to him.  
  
Matsukawa and Oikawa headed out first, letting the other two guard over their camp while they took two or so hours to explore. They didn’t usually find anything of interest in these hunts, aside from the occasional magical plant or little spirits passing by the area. Sometimes they’d catch a wild animal to cook, but they didn’t want to scare Iwa off. He had been very obvious about keeping the camp clean and being very careful about nature, and they had a feeling he wouldn’t be very happy about it.  
  
“It’s no surprise, if he’d been living in the woods this whole time,” Oikawa supposed.  
  
Matsukawa thought there was something a little odd about that but decided not to say anything. They walked along in silence, strolling rather than actually hunting. Sometimes Oikawa would pick up a stick and poke Matsukawa with it, and the latter answered by finding a bug and threatening to slip it inside Oikawa’s shirt. It was all in all a pleasant hour or so, until Oikawa tripped over a rock and fell.  
  
Matsukawa snorted, at the same time catching Oikawa’s arm on reflex. “You okay there?”  
  
“I am not!” Oikawa complained hotly, turning to glare at the rock that tripped him. “How dare this measly little — wait what is that?”  
  
He knelt on the ground, peering closer at the rock. Except it wasn’t a normal rock, but something else half buried in the dirt. It sure looked like a rock, but Oikawa tripping on it exposed a smooth side with a swirling brown, orange and white pattern. Oikawa pried it completely out of the dirt, coming up with a piece big enough to fit snug in his palm. Foul mood forgotten, he beamed at Matsukawa.  
  
“Look! It’s an agate,” he said, showing the rock to Matsukawa. “We actually found something!”  
  
“That we did,” Matsukawa agreed. He smiled, more focused on Oikawa’s face than the rock. “Pretty.”  
  
Oikawa was too busy brushing some dirt off of his little treasure to see his expression. Their walk became just a bit more energized with the discovery, surely enough rewarded with finding a few more stones here and there. By the time they circled back to the camp, they had 2 pieces of agate, 2 pieces of quartz and 4 pieces of turquoise stones.  
  
“Look at what we got,” Oikawa singsonged, gloating as he bounded into the clearing. Matsukawa sauntered after him with his usual, half-lidded expression. Hanamaki and Iwa looked up from what they were doing. The two were sitting on a log by the campfire, previously hunched over pieces of wood with sticks and wood shavings strewn about them.  
  
“What’cha got there?” Hanamaki asked readily, peering at Oikawa’s cupped hands when he came closer. He whistled at the sight of the stones, pretty even with the dirt dulling their shine. “Nice haul.”  
  
“Huh,” Iwa said.  
  
“Aren’t we impressive?” Oikawa pressed, nudging Hanamaki aside so he could have a spot to sit on. His gaze was solidly on Iwa, waiting for an answer. Iwa looked up at him, down at the rocks in his hands, then back up again.  
  
“I guess.”  
  
“Don’t go fishing for praise,” Matsukawa admonished as if on cue, coming up beside them. He gave Iwa and Hanamaki a smile, tilting his head. “Tooru kept jumping about like a little rabbit finding them, it was cute.”  
  
“You’re cute,” Oikawa shot back, belatedly realizing that wasn’t an insult at all. He made a face, then shook his head. “Anyway, it’s Makki and Iwa-chan’s turn!”  
  
“I dunno,” Hanamaki said, glancing up. “It looks like it might rain soon.”  
  
The rest of them looked up as well. The sky that had been clear and sunny that morning had somehow gathered clouds over the course of Matsukawa and Oikawa’s walk. While it didn’t look like the rain would be heavy, it wasn’t light either.  
  
“It should be fine for an hour more, right?” Oikawa said. But just as the words left his mouth, the sky crackled with thunder and opened up to rain water down on the forest and their camp.  
  
A moment of silence, and then —  
  
Iwa snorted, a helplessly stifled snicker followed by full blown laughter. Matsukawa, Oikawa and Hanamaki couldn’t help but stare at him, in a daze and getting wetter by the minute.  
  
Thunder crashed over them again, the sky brightened with lightning.  
  
It shook the three others into action, grabbing their things and running for the tent. Matsukawa herded a still mirthful Iwa with them, huddling together to get out of the rain. They scrambled inside the tent as the rain pelted down, zipping up the door and muffling the sounds outside. Finally safe, the tension eased away until all was left were four breathless, damp young men.  
  
“Shoot, did we forget the heater?” Oikawa muttered from a corner of the tent, prompting a quick search of their belongings. It turned out that they did forget the heater. Normally, that wouldn’t matter since the three of them were dragons and could generate heat by themselves. But — they all subtly looked at the fourth person with them — this time was a bit different.  
  
Matsukawa sighed. “Let’s change clothes first.”  
  
It took a little maneuvering, what with all of them crammed inside one tent. Iwa didn’t have a spare jacket, so they let him borrow one of theirs.  
  
\- - -  
  
After a little more maneuvering, somehow, they ended up huddled together under a couple of blankets and the pretense of sharing body heat.  
  
“This is a bit…” Iwaizumi shifted a bit, squished all too comfortably between Matsukawa and Oikawa. Hanamaki was sidled up against Matsukawa while fiddling with a sleek, shiny rectangular tablet.  
  
“You’re right, we should’ve brought pillows,” Oikawa lamented with a sigh. He sank against Iwaizumi, an invariably soft bundle of warmth on his side.  
  
“Tell us if you’re uncomfortable,” Matsukawa said on his other side, noticing his shifting. He gave Iwaizumi a little nudge. “We don’t want to be imposing…?”  
  
“Uhm.” Iwaizumi struggled to form human words, feeling unnaturally hot. He heard humans could generate their own body heat, to some extent, but he didn’t realize they could get this warm? Was this normal??  
  
“Move over,” Hanamaki waved at them then, making himself comfortable across half their combined laps.   
  
He propped up the tablet against their bags, its smooth side flickering to life to show moving pictures complete with sounds and decidedly inhuman effects. Iwaizumi did his best not to show his surprise — just how far had humankind advanced? — but it must’ve shown on his face, prompting Matsukawa to speak.  
  
“I take it you haven’t watched Ghibli before?” he asked, sounding pleased. Iwaizumi begrudgingly admitted that he hadn’t, burrowing into the blankets almost sullenly.  
  
“This one’s called ‘My Neighbour Totoro.’ You’ll love it,” Hanamaki assured him, patting Iwaizumi’s knee where he could reach.   
  
The latter decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, focusing on the ‘Ghibli’ as it depicted moving drawings and a story as wild as it was beautiful.   
  
He became absorbed in the tale, and the position he found himself in, until hours had passed and the moving pictures were replaced with moving words, songs playing in succession before ending in a black surface, the tablet lifeless once more.  
  
Iwaizumi, feeling hungry for more stories, was about to demand they show him more of the ‘Ghibli’ when he realized all his companions had fallen asleep. They were all so vulnerable like this, the foolish humans deigning to be asleep in his presence. He could whisk them all away to his lands in the blink of an eye, with how much of their stories and their names they’d given him.  
  
But he had yet to repay them, really, so that’d be kind of rude.   
  
The recipe he’d given them this morning barely equaled those he’d received, not to mention the fact that he had to modify it immensely to be safe for human consumption. Did the effort count as a plus or a minus in his favor? Iwaizumi wasn’t the one to take chances, and he didn’t want to have to bring it up in court regardless. Fairy courts could be tedious at best and horribly life threatening at worst.  
  
He glanced down at Hanamaki, snuggled up against his chest and curled up around Matsukawa at the same time. It was a feat of flexibility, and would’ve been rather heavy if Iwaizumi was a normal human.   
  
He couldn’t imagine Hanamaki or the other two standing in a fairy court having to argue their freedom, brought along by a whim and bad luck. They might hate Iwaizumi, too, and the thought made the fae feel sour.  
  
Maybe… he should stay with them until he could find a way to pay them all back and even out their dues?   
  
It would be the polite thing to do. The smart thing, if he didn’t want to have to face a court. Iwaizumi sighed. This was all starting to seem more trouble than it was worth.  
Oikawa wriggled in his sleep, burrowing into Iwaizumi’s shoulder. His face was mushed against him and his hair was already incredibly messy despite not having moved much. It was a far cry from the confident, graceful appearance he had when he was awake, but Iwaizumi found himself appreciating it anyway.  
  
Later, once the three humans had woken up, he would tell them that he’ll accept their invitation for a bit.   
  
He would have to stress that it won’t be permanent — humans were notorious for getting easily attached to things constantly in their presence. It was what made them both so easy to fool yet so hard to get rid of. For now, maybe he would follow their lead and close his eyes for a bit.  
  
Outside the tent, the rain kept pouring down.  
  
\- - -  
  
Iwaizumi was quick to find out that the ‘modern’ human world had become incredibly fascinating.  
  
The last time any of his friends left the forest was when Yahaba chased after a werewolf that strayed into his territory, and he didn’t say anything about movies and cars and apartments and Ghibli. Maybe they weren’t made yet at the time? Iwaizumi was willing to forgive him if that was the case, but he was going to gloat about it so much when he got back.  
  
Eventually, he was going to go back.   
  
He just had to pay the three humans back for the recipes, the food, the stories, the knowledge they kept piling up in front of him because they took it all for granted. Iwaizumi struggled to keep up, resigning himself to giving recipes in return, cleaning their home and keeping the two potted plants they had alive and healthy.   
  
He was starting to feel like a brownie, and it had only been a week!  
  
Iwaizumi’s pride wouldn’t let himself be mistaken for a different type of fairy, if or when his new housemates realized he wasn’t human. That meant he had to play up his magic. But… how?  
  
He sighed, pondering the problem while tending to one of the previously mentioned plants. It was a small succulent that sat by one of the living room windows. The plant was a gift from one of Oikawa’s colleagues from work, apparently, and a failed love confession that his two companions enjoyed recounting. Even their plants had stories!  
  
“Iwa-chan, I’m home!” Oikawa entered their home then, his voice bright like the tinkling of bells. “Are the others here yet?”  
  
“Hanamaki is,” Iwaizumi answered, looking up from what he was doing. Sparks of magic fizzled out from his fingertips and disappeared just as Oikawa turned around from hanging his coat by the door. He beamed at Iwaizumi.  
  
“Are you fussing over that again?” he asked, dropping his things on the couch as he walked closer. “It’s been much healthier since you got here.”  
  
Iwaizumi tried not to preen at that. But of course, his magic was top notch! And being so connected to the forest, he’d be more ashamed if his mere presence couldn’t liven up a pair of plants.  
  
“The one in the kitchen, too,” Oikawa remarked, his smile teasing. “Iwa-chan is so talented.”  
  
Iwaizumi tried not to preen _too much_. He rolled his eyes instead, stretching from his hunched position and making sure to let his shirt ride up his torso. He’d noticed early on that the humans tended to look more appreciative when he did that, and he counted it as a win for himself.  
  
“Ahm, well,” Oikawa blinked, coughing a bit. “So where’s Makki?”  
  
“He’s in the kitchen,” Iwaizumi answered, a little puzzled. That reaction was a little different, wasn’t it? Or did he just not notice it before?  
  
“I was making dinner,” Hanamaki’s voice floated over to them, appearing at the door leading to the kitchen. He was wearing sleep clothes with an apron on top. “I’m making last weekend’s recipe with the chili peppers our Iwa-chan graciously grew.”  
  
That was the plant in the kitchen, a robust chili plant on the counter by another window. It was all right when Iwaizumi got there, just a little lonely and unable to bear fruit. That one surely appreciated Iwaizumi’s presence.  
  
“Mattsun would love that,” Oikawa said, plopping down on the couch and giving him a little wave. “He’s always talked about making a garden for spices over on the balcony. But he hasn’t been able to grow anything before.”  
  
“The plants don’t like the death smell on him,” Hanamaki informed Iwaizumi, lowering his voice in a fake conspiratorial tone. “The funeral home scent follows him around.”  
Iwaizumi snorted, shaking his head.   
  
While it was true that the scent of death was present with Matsukawa, it was faint and plants generally didn’t care. Life and death were invariably linked for plants, and in fact, they’ve implied that Matsukawa’s attention on them was much appreciated. It’s just that the care provided by living in a city and having such busy jobs were nothing on the care of a forest fae.  
  
Although, that did give him an idea on how to deal with his earlier problem.  
  
“In any case,” Oikawa said into the resulting silence, comfortable and cheerful. “I got home first, dibs on what we’re watching.”  
  
“Technically, I got home first,” Hanamaki refuted.  
  
“Technically, I never left,” Iwaizumi supplied, just so he could watch Oikawa splutter indignantly and Hanamaki laugh. Both very beautiful sights, those were.  
  
“Fine, fair enough,” Hanamaki waved a hand. “What do you wanna watch, Iwa-chan?”  
  
“Ghibli,” Iwaizumi replied almost immediately.   
  
He’d been informed by a rather enthusiastic Matsukawa that ‘Ghibli’ was a ‘studio’ that made more than one animated movie, and promised to show him all ‘the good ones.’ Between that, Oikawa’s insistence on watching ‘alien conspiracies’ and those odd comedy shows Hanamaki liked, they had a lot of stories to go through.  
  
Iwaizumi had never been so spoiled before. He rather liked it.  


[ ](https://twitter.com/jeeejaee/status/1333165149176410115?s=20)

  
\- - -  
  
Matsukawa came home around the same time Hanamaki finished making dinner, and he was very happy to find out that Iwaizumi wanted to watch more Ghibli movies that night. It was but the smallest portion of Matsukawa’s hoard, but he’d always been the most patient of the three of them. They ate while they watched, Iwa focused on the movie and the food, and the three of them focused a little more on Iwa.  
  
His fascination with movies and stories was just… very cute, and so heartfelt.   
  
That was how they felt whenever they discovered a new human thing, especially when it was something for one of their hoards. Like several times before then, all three dragons shared a look and promised to themselves to try to spend more time being able to appreciate Iwa’s presence.  
  
And when not all of them could hang out, there’s this great human invention called taking pictures with your phone that’s come in handy plenty of times. In fact, they had a whole group chat about it.  
  
Hanamaki had a lot of other photos that he hadn’t shared with his two partners, truth be told, but that’s what they get for having full day jobs. He got to spend more time with Iwa and it showed.  
  
Take now, for example.  
  
Hanamaki had laid out his personal recipe tome — a large, thick book filled with lovingly collected dessert recipes, charmed to have more pages whenever he wanted to add another. It was Hanamaki’s precious hoard, with half the pages being the only surviving copies of their respective recipes, owners, languages and techniques lost to the uncaring hands of Time. It wasn’t often that he showed his hoard to anyone who wasn’t his mate, and never in its rawest form like this.  
  
But how could he not, when Iwa was gazing so respectfully at his darling hoard before they’d even cracked the book open? When Hanamaki could smell reverence, anticipation and hunger from the little human as they pored over the pages for something to make for today. If it were another dragon, he would’ve felt threatened. But this was Iwa, and they’ve found out quickly that he wanted nothing more than to share and be shared with.  
  
Hanamaki snuck some more pictures on his phone, one to show his partners and several to keep for himself. It was never too late to start a second hoard, was it?  
  
Hanamaki chose to skip over most of the recipes, too old and languages too dead to be explained away. The more modern ones were in this city’s human language, with a different language here and there. He was about 90% sure they were still in use somewhere in the world, too. Languages were all sort of the same to dragons, except for that one dragon they met years ago who hoarded languages and got touchy over the subject.  
  
Iwa slowed his page flipping around the latter half of the book, finally coming to a stop on a page detailing a chocolate oatmeal recipe. Hanamaki remembered that one - a gift from Oikawa, a few years ago.  
  
“Oikawa kept calling it ‘sunshine cake’ because he confused it with a completely different recipe,” Hanamaki gleefully told Iwa as they gathered the ingredients and tools they needed.  
  
It was a fairly simple recipe, as were the other recipes Iwa had chosen whenever Hanamaki asked him. For someone who constantly looked excited whenever Hanamaki brought out the book, he was very reserved in picking out a recipe.  
  
Hanamaki expertly broke a chocolate bar in half, handing Iwa one while getting to work breaking down the other over a large, wide rimmed bowl.  
  
“Usually, slicing it up is faster and easier,” he told Iwa, pausing to bring a finger to his lips. “But this way, we can sneak in little bites while we work.”  
  
Iwa looked mildly confused, but he nodded. Hanamaki snuck a piece of chocolate into his mouth with a hum.  
  
That was pretty consistent with Iwa, too. He had gaps in his knowledge of human things that could be explained by living in the woods, or just something that normal humans didn’t know much about. He hadn’t even shared his full name, though to be fair neither had they. But it was easy to find out if he just looked at the human IDs they kept lying around, or the mailing address on the letters they received.  
  
Or maybe it was really just too awkward now that they’d been living together for over a month.  
  
Then there was… whatever he would get up to whenever nobody’s home.   
  
At first, it seemed that he mostly cleaned and tended to the plants. It had been a long while since they’ve had to ask about human affairs like jobs and living situations, so they were admittedly tiptoeing around that one. It didn’t seem like Iwa was involved in anything shady, even if he wouldn’t admit to buying the extra food in the pantry or the little potted plants that had begun to spring up around the house.  
  
In fact, those plants only started showing up after that time Oikawa mentioned how Matsukawa wanted a garden. The latter was incredibly elated when they noticed it, calling Iwa a ‘tsundere’ and fussing over how to repay him without letting him know that they knew what he was doing.  
  
“That’s too much milk,” Iwa said, startling Hanamaki. He looked down at his hands, a measuring cup almost overflowing with milk and the carton still poised over it. Oops.  
  
“Right, thanks for that,” Hanamaki said with a sheepish laugh, putting the milk carton down. He tried to concentrate this time, heating up the milk while completely aware of Iwa’s scrutinizing stare. That wasn’t the most embarrassing thing he’d done in Iwa’s presence, really, but it was embarrassing just the same.  
  
They worked in silence for a long while.  
  
“If you keep staring like that I’m gonna melt,” Hanamaki joked, grinning when Iwa visibly flushed. They were just about finished mixing the batter, and Iwa took the chance to turn away under the pretense of clearing up their work space. Hanamaki set the mix aside to let it cool and help tidy up, letting Iwa have a moment to collect himself. Then—  
  
“I know you three are… something,” Iwa said, making Hanamaki freeze.  
  
What?  
  
…  
  
Ah.  
  
“Ah,” he said, looking at Iwa carefully. “You noticed?”  
  
Iwa gave him a flat look. “You don’t exactly hide it,” he said, rolling his eyes at him. “Not very well, anyway.”  
  
And here Hanamaki thought they were being so subtle!  
  
“You touch a lot when you think I’m not looking,” Iwa continued, in case he needed convincing. “And you have this… look. I’ve seen it a lot.”  
  
Hanamaki flushed, feeling oddly like a hatchling caught sneaking about.  
  
Oh. He meant their relationship.  
  
“Well, it’s— we didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” he apologized, smiling sheepishly. “I’m sorry, I’ll tell the others to tone it down.”  
  
“I don’t really mind,” Iwa scoffed. Then, as if having remembered something, he smiled a little and shook his head. “It’s not like I’ll be staying forever.”  
  
He said it so lightly, but why did that make Hanamaki feel frustrated? He frowned at the human.  
  
“Don’t say that,” he told him, patting Iwa on the shoulder. “You can stay for as long as you want. We’re really happy to have you, Iwa-chan.”  
  
Iwa got a strange look on his face, and then he was glaring, looking very wronged.  
  
“Don’t say that,” he warned. “You don’t know what you’re giving.”  
  
He left the kitchen in a huff, leaving Hanamaki bewildered.  
  
What did he say wrong?  
  
\- - -  
  
Ahh shit.  
  
Iwaizumi didn’t mean to do that. It was a little too honest of him, and he wasn’t even sure where it came from.  
  
What Hanamaki said was a perfectly normal human thing to say, Iwaizumi knew that by now.  
  
For some reason, they’re so much more open to offering things and giving things and taking things — well, they’ve always been like that, but he wasn’t even trying to hide his magic presence anymore! Just how bad was their lack of awareness? If it were any other fae, their offering of their home and their company might as well have been an open invitation to feast on them.  
  
Iwaizumi paced his room— his borrowed, graciously lent room for ‘guests’ full of all the basic human things. He was starting to feel odd, far too comfortable in his human skin surrounded by human presences. It wasn’t even humans in general— it was these three in particular.  
  
Two plants curled towards him from the windowsill, curious but afraid.   
  
Iwaizumi did his best to reign in his agitation, but the sight of the plants reminded him of all the other ones he’d summoned up around the house. The balcony off to the side of the living room was halfway to a proper garden now. Given a few more weeks, he’d be able to set a couple of spells up to help them flourish without his active attention.  
  
But wasn’t he getting far too comfortable staying here? He’d ventured outside the home plenty of times to explore the city, of course, but the forest was so far away. The city had its own peculiar spirits, things some of his fellow fae might be interested in finding out about. Akaashi liked knowledge on spirits and creatures, he’d have to get the guy to visit here sometime.  
  
Iwaizumi paced harder, frowning to himself.  
  
The stupid humans had made him too comfortable. Their daily meals weren’t any fae feast, but the sheer variety of it, the stories they told with each meal, the movies and shows they’ve watched? It’s all so fascinating, not to mention the humans themselves! Hanamaki, Matsukawa and Oikawa were such bright little things, how were they so full of life and stories at such a young age?  
  
Oh, but they might not be young by human standards? He should check that. Matsukawa had shown him how to use the internet on his first week with them, but it was Oikawa who showed him how to delete his search history so —  
  
Iwaizumi sighed, flopping down on his bed in defeat.  
  
His thoughts kept coming back to them, didn’t they? What did that mean? Was this just a passing fancy? Should he get himself checked out by a healer?  
  
Suddenly, he sat up, alarmed.  
  
Was this all some secret plot by the humans? Were they piling debt after debt with him so that he would stay with them forever? But then… they never really asked for anything in return.   
  
They’ve given him so much, and all the things Iwaizumi had done in return were all voluntary. They can’t be building up for some huge reality altering favor can they? It would be more efficient to just… use one of those nasty entrapment spells he’d heard about from his fellow fae. It was all too confusing.  
  
Falling back down on the bed, Iwaizumi decided to take a nap and think about it some other time. He buried his face in the closest pillow he could reach. It was incredibly soft. Could he bring one with him if he went back to the forest?  
  
\- - -  
  
Far away from the city, a day or so ago, a group of fairies were approaching a particular clearing. Spirits and animals scattered to avoid their path as they moved across the forest like a purposeful breeze. With their arrival came immense magical energy, a focused intent, and a cacophonous noise.  
  
“I’m telling you, he probably just fell asleep too long again,” Futakuchi, at the back of the group, was declaring loudly.  
  
“He wouldn’t miss a feast without notice, though,” Akaashi refuted, resolutely staring forward as they went.  
  
“Well, what else could’ve happened?” Futakuchi asked, rolling his eyes.  
  
“Anything could’ve happened!” Yahaba snapped, turning his head to glare at him. “Why are you even here? You don’t usually hang around us.”  
  
“Aone asked me to come,” Futakuchi tilted his head towards their fourth companion.  
  
Aone, who walked in front with Akaashi, looked up at his name and gave the two of them a nod in greeting. Yahaba blinked and nodded in return. As soon as Aone turned around again, he went back to sneering at Futakuchi. The latter stuck his tongue out at him.  
  
“I sure hope Iwaizumi-san is okay,” Kindaichi sighed from the front. He was the one in their group with the strongest tracking magic and was currently leading them. The loss of his usual optimistic demeanor quietened the group as they traveled.  
  
Finally, they arrived at a seemingly undisturbed clearing, with a waterfall and a sizable pool at its base. An old, neglected dirt path led away from the clearing into parts unknown.  
  
“His trace is strongest here,” Kindaichi said, staring at the path with a complicated expression. The rest of the fairies scattered across the clearing.  
  
“Seriously, though, what could happen to a fae like Iwaizumi-san?” Futakuchi said as he floated around Aone, the latter actually trying to ask around at the nearby trees and the spirits that lived there. Unfortunately, they kept running and hiding once they saw Aone approach.  
  
“He could’ve been ambushed with - containment spells,” Yahaba pointed out. Aone looked up, visibly distressed, and Futakuchi glared at Yahaba.  
  
“I thought you said humans don’t know how to do that anymore?” Futakuchi asked.  
  
“Not last time I checked,” Yahaba said hesitantly, looking away. “But, it’s been a while.”  
  
“Nothing short of a dragon or the devil can do Iwaizumi-san any harm,” Futakuchi insisted, waving a hand flippantly. “I think you’re all overreacting.”  
  
“There aren’t a lot of things that can go against us,” Kindaichi agreed cautiously, still eyeing the dirt path on the other side of the clearing. “I can sense some of his energy going that way but something…”  
  
While the four of them speculated and talked, Akaashi knelt by the waterfall, coaxing out the water spirits that their presence had scared off. He’d been to this part of the forest before and was familiar with the spirits that lived there. His friendly presence eventually succeeded in bringing them out, cooing over him and answering his quiet inquiries.  
  
“Is that so…”  
  
Akaashi’s ice-clear voice rang across the clearing, hushing his fellow fae. They all peered at him curiously, but Akaashi was finishing his chat with the water spirits with a polite, if impatient, tone. He thanked the spirits one last time before motioning for the fairies to gather.  
  
“It seems Iwaizumi-san encountered a group of dragons,” Akaashi announced.  
  
“What!?”  
  
“Dragons?”  
  
“A group of them?”  
  
“How many were there?” Yahaba asked, frowning. “What did the water spirits say? Was there a fight?”  
  
Futakuchi gave him a look. “There’s literally no signs of fighting.”  
  
Yahaba waved his hands around, rolling his eyes at him. “Restoration magic is a thing?”  
  
“The water spirits are gentle creatures,” Akaashi interrupted them, eyes narrowed in thought. “They wouldn’t be here if there was a fight.”  
  
“Plus we wouldn’t find traces of Iwaizumi-san’s energy if they had used restoration magic,” Kindaichi added. He exchanged a worried look with Aone, before turning to look back at Akaashi. “What did the water spirits say, Akaashi-san?”  
  
Akaashi still looked to be deep in thought, eyeing the dirt path Kindaichi had pointed out earlier.  
  
“They said the dragons brought Iwaizumi-san with them,” he said quietly. “Out of the forest.”  
  
All the other fairies exchanged troubled looks, thoughts bouncing wildly. The tense silence lengthened. It was Aone who spoke at last, burning with determination and a bit of actual fire.  
  
“Let’s bring him back.”  
  
\- - -  
  
Now…  
  
Three dragons were sitting in the living room, speaking in hushed voices so low that surely no human ears could hear it.  
  
“I don’t know what I did!” Hanamaki said, not for the first time.  
  
“Did you come on too strong?” Oikawa asked, also not for the first time. Hanamaki glared at him, making a sound closer to a growl than anything.  
  
“Come on, there’s no use fighting,” Matsukawa intervened, shaking his head. “It’d be better if we ask Iwa-chan what we did wrong and ask for forgiveness then.”  
  
“We’ve already told him before that he could stay with us indefinitely, right?” Oikawa kept fussing. “Human lives are so short, it really isn’t a problem.”  
  
“I dunno, I’ll miss him for sure,” Hanamaki mumbled sadly, making his partners droop with the same feeling.  
  
Oikawa sniffed, raising his chin and crossing his arms. “All the more reason to spend more time with him,” he declared, still keeping his voice low. “Let’s come clean to him.”  
  
“About which part?” Matsukawa and Hanamaki asked at the same time, exchanging brief grins after they did.  
  
“All of it,” Oikawa answered confidently, ignoring their antics.  
  
“All, as in the dragon and the relationship and the sort-of wooing all?” Matsukawa asked, voice softened even lower as if he was afraid Iwa would still hear.  
  
“It’s barely been a month,” Hanamaki added.  
  
“He’d find out sooner or later,” Oikawa reasoned. “Better to just be upfront about it, Iwa-chan is that type of person.”  
  
Matsukawa and Hanamaki exchanged a concerned look. Hanamaki broke first, sighing.  
  
“Might as we—”  
  
The three dragons became deathly still, sitting up from their crouched positions on the couch. They could sense magic approaching, immensely strong magic with what felt like burning murderous intent. They couldn’t help reacting to it as it came closer and closer, their draconic forms demanding to come out of their human shells.  
  
Then, one side of the living room was ripped clean off.  
  
It was as if a large hand had simply peeled the wall away, the resulting thunderous noise lasting only a few seconds. Bright sunlight filtered into the now-broken house, and five fairies stood in all their undisguised glory where it once was. The murderous magic was emanating off of them, causing the confused dragons to bare their fangs and raise their wings in a clear sign of offense.  
  
“You think you can challenge us?” One of the fairies hissed in an ice cold voice, his surroundings freezing from his mere presence.  
  
“Who’s challenging who?” Oikawa growled, claws itching to protect, throat itching to burn.  
  
The ice fae smirked, beautiful and crystal clear and deadly as an avalanche.  
  
“Hey.”  
  
Iwaizumi opened the door to his bedroom, yawning and still shaking himself awake from his nap. He walked into the living room, right in between the fairies and the dragons, with another large yawn, rubbing his eyes. Everyone else stared at him, stock still, wide-eyed and thoughts racing.  
  
“Sorry about freaking out earlier—”  
  
Iwaizumi blinked, eyes squinted with sleep and disbelief.  
  
“What the fuck.”  
  
\- - -  
  
Iwaizumi sighed. Once again he found himself pacing. However, this time he had an attentive, if contrite, audience.  
  
It took most of the afternoon to first get everyone to calm down and for explanations to be exchanged. Then they had to restore the living room with magic, delaying dinner even now.  
  
The three dragons sat on the couch, wings and fangs and scaly bits tucked away into their mostly human bodies. The five fairies sat on their knees on the floor, also in mostly human bodies.  
  
When Iwaizumi swept his gaze over them, nobody would meet his eyes. He sighed again.  
  
“I guess this is partly my fault,” he admitted, stopping his pacing. “I didn’t expect to miss the feast this month, I’m sorry.”  
  
Kindaichi and Aone looked up, shaking their heads.  
  
“It’s not your fault, Iwaizumi-san!” Kindaichi said. “We shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions!”  
  
“It’s good that you know what you did wrong, too,” Iwaizumi said with a pointed glare. Kindaichi and Aone lowered their heads again, faces flushed. Hanamaki smirked at them, gloating. He still had his head lowered, but Iwaizumi caught the look anyway.  
  
“Wipe that smirk off your face, you little liar,” Iwaizumi scoffed. “Just when were you planning on telling me you were dragons this whole time?”  
  
“Iwa-chan,” Oikawa pleaded, eyes wide and lips turned down in a pout. “We really wanted to tell you! It’s just that we thought you were human and that you’d be scared!”  
  
Iwaizumi internally winced. That was technically his fault, too.  
  
“And I thought you were humans and was hiding myself,” he said with another sigh, pinching his brow. This was all giving him a headache, and the action was supposed to relieve one, right? It was taking a while to work.  
  
“We still like you, Iwa-chan!” Oikawa assured him.  
  
Iwaizumi’s ears warmed, and he glared harder at them.  
  
“That— that’s another thing!” he said. “You guys thought I was a ‘hobo’ and you still wanted to — to —!”  
  
“To date you, Iwa-chan,” Matsukawa continued for him, smiling lazily. “We still do.”  
  
“Aye.”  
  
“Yep!”  
  
Hanamaki and Oikawa agreed all too eagerly, causing the other fairies to start making noise in protest. Iwaizumi shushed them all with a fierce glare, only he couldn’t quite hide the way his stupid human face flushed and his stupid wings fluttered. It should not have been visible to anyone but other fairies, but the three dragons all gave him a look that said otherwise.  
  
“You don’t understand, Iwa-chan,” Hanamaki said, pleading tone at odds with the grin he couldn’t quite hold back. “You’re really cute!”  
  
Iwaizumi’s face felt hotter than it should be possible, not in a human body. He turned away, arms crossed.  
  
“I… I wouldn’t be opposed to a date,” he said, steeling himself against the cacophony of noise that followed. The only one not really making noise were Akaashi and Aone, the former looking mildly unimpressed and the latter silently fretting. Iwaizumi was grateful for at least that.  
  
“Oi.”  
  
Iwaizumi silenced everyone with a word and another warning glare, after which he decided to stretch a little and head for the kitchen.  
  
“We can talk about the rest tomorrow. It’s a little late but I still want to eat dinner,” he said, pausing at the kitchen door. He waved a hand at the dragons on the couch. “One of you come help me.”  
  
The three dragons exchanged looks, a five second argument in hushed tones before Matsukawa got up triumphantly.  
  
“Eh? We’re staying?” Futakuchi complained, shoulders hunching when Iwaizumi narrowed his eyes at him. “I mean… what’ll we do in the meantime?”  
  
“Pick something to watch,” Iwaizumi answered, making a shooing gesture at them before disappearing into the kitchen, Matsukawa happily at his heels.  
  
The fairies exchanged bewildered looks, while the two dragons left with them began to smirk with glee.  
  
“Have any of you heard of Teen Wolf?”

**Author's Note:**

> Thoughts? :D


End file.
